Awesome Nature

Japanese gadget retailer Thanko is crowdfunding this machine that not only produces nature sounds, but simulates a crackling fire using LED lights and aromatic mist. In addition to fire, its soothing sounds include wind, rain, thunder, waves, birds, and insects, which you can mix in any combination using its volume sliders.

When red fire ants find face flood waters, they quickly evacuate their tunnels and build a raft out of their bodies. This unique evolutionary trait helps the colony survive as a whole and is quite the sight floating atop flood waters in this video from Deep Look. You definitely wouldn’t want to swim up next to this thing.

The Holothuroidea, aka sea cucumber, is one of the many strange-looking creatures that dwell at the bottom of the ocean. ZeFrank explains the unusual way these spiny, slug-like things reproduce, develop, and thrive – along with just how diverse their species can be. Expect Frank’s usual mix of information and innuendo.

It’s been a while since we got a lesson from the Sam O’Nella Academy, but after a nearly 3-year hiatus from YouTube, the snarky educator takes us back to school to learn about scientific animal names and where they come from. Those taxonomy mnemonics are just as good as the ones on TV Funhouse.

Hooded seals have one of the strangest mating rituals we’ve ever seen. The males have inflatable noses, which they blow up when it’s time to attract a mate. Their big honkers are used not only to attract females but to intimidate rivals. BBC’s Frozen Planet II gets us up close and personal with their unusual snouts.

Nature can be weird, gross, and sometimes downright cruel. In this video from Ze Frank, we learn about a kind of bird that lays its eggs in another bird’s nest while they go off and make more babies. Sometimes they even eat the other bird’s eggs, and their eggs have even evolved to look like the ones they replaced.

Last week, the Fagradalsfjall volcano erupted not far from Reykjavik, Iceland, and the Keflavik International Airport. Photographers descended on the area, including Jakob Vegerfors, who captured this extraordinary footage of fiery lava exploding into the air and a river of lava flowing around the eruption site.

Cue the double entendres. Ze Frank is here to teach us about our favorite dam-building rodent. These resourceful mammals are good at swimming, carrying things, and eating underwater. You might know about the beaver’s wood-chomping teeth, but we bet you didn’t know all the stuff that comes out of their butts.

Sriram Murali of Saving the Dark takes us to the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu, India for a look at one of the most amazing sights on Earth. As night falls, millions of fireflies illuminate the forest, blinking their bioluminescent bodies in synchrony. Murali’s instagram features some incredible long-exposures of the insects.

Have you ever asked yourself why starfish are shaped like that? ZeFrank heads beneath the surface of the ocean to explain how echinoderms work, the wild way in which their skeletons are formed, how they move around, and how they eat. Nature can be so weird sometimes.

We now present the most satisfying 46 seconds of video you’ll see today. Wildlife photographer David Weiller captured this close-up footage of a giant fire red millipede marching its 160-or-so feet across a branch in Madagascar’s Marojejy National Park. Crank up the volume for immersive forest sounds.

Meet hemeroplanes triptolemus, AKA the snake-mimic caterpillar. Most of the time, little guy looks like a stick with a bunch of legs. But when provoked, it shows off one of nature’s most fascinating adaptations – its head puffs up to look like the head of a viper to scare off predators. Mark Bowler got up close with this amazing species.

Volcanic eruptions are known for their visual spectacle. But nature photographer Jakob Vegerfors thinks that sound is just as important as sight. He captured this surprisingly soothing footage during the March 2021 eruption at Geldingadalur, Iceland. We’re putting this on a loop instead of white noise at bedtime.

In the universe of living things, you might think that insects were pretty low in the pecking order. But as TierZoo points out, the individual abilities, collective mindset, and genetic makeup of bees, ants, and wasps make them some of the most impressive creatures on the planet.

When young, the striped eel catfish likes to stick close to its siblings. In fact, they travel so close together that they look like some kind of larger creature made up of smaller creatures. The Abyss Diving School Bali shared this incredible footage of a school of the fish as they made their way across the ocean floor in Jelemuk Bay.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned spending time in the Southwest, it’s always to check your shoes for scorpions. But are these creepy-looking arachnids as dangerous as they’re made out to be? TierZoo applies their standard RPG-style evaluation to the creepy crawlers to see where they stack up compared to other animals in the meta.

Jens over at Another Perspective spent a year growing various kinds of mushrooms in his basement and filmed their progress. After capturing roughly five terabytes of images, he compiled them into this fascinating three-minute time-lapse video. Is anyone else hungry now?

Artist and builder Charlie Baker creates incredible sculptures from materials found in nature. Rather than use finished lumber, he works meticulously to preserve the organic shapes and textures of the twigs and branches he uses as his primary medium. WIRED’s Obsessed takes us inside the artist’s mind and process.

Each year, millions of grey mullets make their way along the coast of Florida, remaining close to the beach to steer clear of deep water predators. But in this clip from BBC Earth’s Seven Worlds, One Planet, you’ll witness just what happens when tarpons, pelicans, and sharks get near the massive school of fish.

When it comes to strange-looking mammals, the proboscis monkey is right up there near the top of the list. Nature show host ZeFrank takes a few minutes to explain this primate’s big, floppy nose and what purpose it serves. Is it a big nose, big hose situation? Hit play, and find out.

Nature can be pretty amazing. Take, for example, how this hive of honeybees discourages predators like wasps from attacking. Multiple layers of bees form a protective shield on the outside of their honeycomb and move in synchronized patterns that make the whole hive look like it’s one big creature.

In the words of Austin Powers, “Do I make you horny?” That’s a question many animals ask on a daily basis as they walk around with bony protrusions sticking out of their heads. TierZoo explores the advantages and disadvantages horns and antlers provide animals with relative to other animals in the meta.

Giant water lilies are as aggressive as they look. They clear the way for growth by crowding out other plants with their spiky, club-like buds, then blocking light beneath the surface with their enormous leaves. This footage from BBC Earth’s The Green Planet provides an up-close look at these plants which can grow 8″ a day.